Man who 'faked' being a lawyer but still won dozens of cases has been arrested

A fake lawyer who won 26 cases has reportedly been arrested by authorities.

BBC News reported that police say that a man practicing law under the name Brian Mwenda is a ‘masquerader’.

Authorities also accused the man of stealing the real identity of lawyer Brian Mwenda Ntwiga.

Anyone getting flashbacks to the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can? I smell a four-part Netflix documentary on its way.

A Fake Lawyer named Brian Mwenda has been arrested in Kenya.

He won all 26 cases he handled before his arrest. pic.twitter.com/NmdgzWNel2

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) October 13, 2023

The Nigerian Tribune reported that the attorney had won dozens of cases and handled them all in front of Magistrates, Court of Appeal Judges, and High Court judges.

The Rapid Action Team of the Nairobi Branch of the Law Society of Kenya arrested the man after they received many public complaints, according to NDTV.

"The Branch wishes to notify all members of the society and of the public that BRIAN MWENDA NJAGI is not an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, from the Society's records, neither is he a member of the Branch," The Law Society of Kenya wrote on X.

The outlet also reports that he is being held by officials for further investigation.

According to the Ghana Web, the man accessed The Law Society of Kenya portal and identified the account of the man with a name corresponding to his and tampered with the details.

He then uploaded his own photo before claiming to be trained in law.

Last week, an emergency meeting began investigating how Mwenda accessed the account, allowing the man to assume a real lawyer's identity.

The outlet added that the real Brian Mwenda Ntwiga contacted the Secretariat after realising he could no longer log into the system and noticed that some of his details had been altered.

Notice: It has been brought to the attention of the LSK Nairobi Branch through the Rapid Action Team (RAT), that the above pictured person has been presenting and conducting himself as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a member of LSK Nairobi Branch. pic.twitter.com/v3Bx75Fmgn

— LSK Nairobi Branch (@lsk_nbi) October 12, 2023

"On the 5th Day of August 2022, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga was admitted to the Bar and his correct email address was captured and an Account opened for him in the Advocates portal," The Law Society of Kenya said via a statement.

"We reached out to Advocate Brian Mwenda Ntwiga who confirmed that he had not applied for a practicing certificate since his admission, reason being that he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and did not require a Practicing Certificate."

He has also reportedly spoken out in a video on social media.

The man said "I would like to convey my gratitude to the people that are supporting me and praying for me... in the fullness of time I will be able to clear this misunderstanding.

"I will be also be able to provide my innocence and provide the actual context."